Category: Advertising

The Indian Institute of Planning and Management has been barred by the Delhi High Court from using the words “MBA, BBA, Management Course, Management School, Business School or B-School” in its advertisements.

“In the face of the admission of the senior counsel for… IIPM today that IIPM is not entitled to confer any Degree, the prospectus issued by IIPM showing itself as conferring a Degree, is evidently false and misleading,” the court has remarked in its judgement.

The court has ordered IIPM to immediately remove from its website references to words that suggest it confers a degree recognised by the Indian educational system.

Conscious citizens have been empowered by online grievance platforms. Use them!

Alot of things are wrong with our roads. We grumble about it and then move on, because ‘things will never change’. That’s not correct anymore. And the reason for this is simple—two of the three priority areas for the present government are: public grievances and Centre-state relationships. Both of these, in turn, impact us as owners and operators of motor vehicles in India. I am narrating personal experiences over the past few weeks.

The Advertising Standards Council of India ( ASCI) pulled up 15 companies, including GlaxoSmithKlineConsumer Healthcare, Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) and Max Life Insurance, for misleading claims in their advertisements, in a report released on Friday.

While GlaxoSmithKline was asked to withdraw the commercial for its energy drink Horlicks, Hindustan Unilever was asked to pull out the commercial for its toothpaste brand Pepsodent Expert Protection.

In 2010-11, the independent agency, which monitors advertisements in Indian media, received 187 complaints, of which 104 were upheld. According to ASCI, during this period, 85 advertisers complied with its decisions.

“The advertisement (for Horlicks) does not disclose the manner in which Horlicks provides comprehensive nutrition, as claimed in the advertisement,” ASCI said, adding five of the seven claims in the advertisement didn’t follow ASCI guidelines.

An e-mailed query to GlaxoSmithKline did not elicit any response.

Other companies asked to withdraw or modify their advertisements include Cadilla Healthcare (for its Everyouth Natural Fairness brand of face wash, VLCC Personal Care for VLCC Shape Up Waist and Tummy Trim Gel and Healthcare Shape up), the Dainik Bhaskar Group (for its ‘How Divya Marathi opened the new market’ campaign) and Max Life Insurance (for its Shiksha Plus II Child plans).

ASCI said about 80 per cent of advertisers in India complied with codes set by the council. Five years earlier, compliance stood at 71 per cent.

Education, healthcare and FMCG sectors continue to mislead through ads, reveals the Consumer Complaints Council of the ASCI

Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) of the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) upheld complaints against 15 advertisers out of 22 for misleading. During September, the CCC did not uphold complaints against seven advertisements. The companies whose ads were found misleading by CCC include Hindustan Unilever, UltraTech India, Kimberly-Clark Lever, AIHM Institute of Hotel Management, JaypeeInfratech, Panasonic India, GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals and Dr Wilmar Schwabe India.

During September 2012, the CCC also received complaints against three print and four TV advertisements. The complaints were received against the advertisements of Agron India Ltd’s Intimaxx, Allergan Health Care India Pvt Ltd’s Juvederm Injectable Gel Filler, Sri Manakula Vinayagar Engineering College, “Sharda University”, Heinz India Pvt Ltd’s “Complan”, “Britannia’s Milk Bikis”, “Hero MotoCorp’s Hero Maestro”. However, as these advertisements did not contravene ASCI’s codes or guidelines, the complaints were not upheld.

Click Here for the full article with details on the misleading ads which were upheld by the CCC of ASCI